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Monday, June 20, 2016

Violent crime defined . . .

What is a violent crime?

While the Supreme Court has struggled to define when conduct is “violent,” the
real-world consequences of this definitional question are critically important:
the law often treats violent and nonviolent crime very differently, reported Salon.

Many laws govern the conduct of those with criminal
records, restricting housing, employment, voting and a range of benefits. These
laws often depend upon the nature of the underlying offense – a violent felony
might preclude someone from finding work in a given industry; a nonviolent
conviction might not.

Additionally, a conviction for a violent (as opposed to a
nonviolent) crime might trigger a much longer sentence if an individual
commits another crime – even if the second crime is nonviolent or less serious.

Because of these dramatic consequences that accompany a
violent crime conviction recent scholarshiphas emphasized that focusing solely on “nonviolent
offenders” won’t be enough to reduce prison populations drastically.

About Matt

An analysis of crime and punishment from the perspective of a former prosecutor and current criminal justice practitioner.
The views expressed on this blog are solely those of the author and do not reflect the opinions or postions of any county, state or federal agency.